The New England Patriots are starting over at the quarterback position for the second time since they moved on from Tom Brady. The Patriots decided to release Mac Jones and draft Drake Maye this year. While Maye has brought some optimism to the team, there is still a question in regard to how successful he can be with the offense he has around him.
However, the idea of adding some major talent around him isn’t dead, yet.
The New England Patriots Could Still Pull Off Massive Trade According To ESPN
Bill Barnwell of ESPN highlighted how Brandon Ayiuk could still find himself in New England:
The only way it would make sense for the 49ers to trade Aiyuk now would be if they landed a veteran wide receiver in return. While they could move forward with Deebo Samuel, Juan Jennings, and rookie first-rounder Ricky Pearsall as their top three wideouts in theory, this team is clearly hoping to win a Super Bowl while Brock Purdy is still on his rookie deal for one more season.
Trading Aiyuk (or left tackle Trent Williams for that matter) doesn’t make sense at this point in the off-season.
Stranger things have happened, though, and there was enough smoke around Aiyuk earlier this month to make it a major news story.
If something dramatic happened early in the season — if the Niners were to have an awful start, if he developed the mysterious back injury Jalen Ramsey had when he was forcing a deal to the Rams a few years ago, if the team were in position to land a veteran wide receiver who could step in quickly — they might have to consider trading Aiyuk.
More realistically, if they can’t sign him to a new contract, the next step would be franchise-tagging him next off-season and working out a deal then.
Logical Landing Spot:
Patriots, coach Jerod Mayo & Co. were reportedly one of the teams interested in adding Aiyuk to their roster, but Aiyuk seemingly didn’t share the desire. New England still needs a No.1 receiver for Drake Maye, and if the team looks better than expected early in the season, perhaps Aiyuk could be swayed to change his mind.
Considering his age – he just turned 26 in March – Aiyuk is undoubtedly one of the Top 10 receivers in the league. In 2022, he tallied 1,015 yards, but last season was his true breakout year, with 1,342 yards on just 75 catches, establishing himself as an unmatched pass-catcher.
In addition to ranking second in yards per catch (17.9), Aiyuk also ranked third with 28 catches of 20 yards or more. Instead of sharing touches with Niners star Deebo Samuel, he likely would be able to accomplish more if he were a true No. 1. If the 49ers move on from Samuel, that could happen in 2025.
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